Murdered student 'just a harmless computer geek'

Murdered: Michael Jones, who may have been the victim of mistaken identity

A student bludgeoned to death at his home was never in trouble and spent most of his time reading comics and playing on his computer, friends said.

Michael Jones, 18, was found by his mother tied to his computer chair in a pool of blood, with severe head injuries and a single stab wound to the chest.

Police said the geography student at Queen Mary University in east London had no known gang links and may have been the victim of mistaken identity.

Following his murder in Stanley Road, Edmonton, on Thursday, friends told how Michael always kept away from trouble.

Daniel Jarrett, 18, who knew him from Winchmore Secondary School in Enfield, said: "It's worse because he was the goody - while others growing up were in trouble on the streets, he was at home with his comics, playing on his computer." Another friend, who asked not to be named, said: "He was just a harmless IT geek. He was really straight and hard-working, a model student at school. I looked up to him."

Witnesses said two possible suspects were seen vaulting over a fence after Michael's mother, Kathleen Kirby-Jones, discovered his body. She has been at her mother's house nearby under sedation.